So you’ve kicked off your project, and things are well underway. You followed all the best practices; you did everything you learned in the project management manuals. Everyone knows their roles, responsibilities, and how they’re expected to interact with one another. There’s just one small problem.
Someone on your project team has a habit of [...]
Read more and share your opinion →Dear Mr. Harper:
I’m not your number one fan. Okay, I’m not really a fan at all. Okay, let’s dispense with the niceties…I think you’re an ass.
However, I must acknowledge that your office is faced with difficult decisions. Decisions like, where to hold the G20 summit, for example.
One possibility would be to select [...]
Read more and share your opinion →
I recently came across an opinion piece by Liza Lowery Massey called Poor Project Management Dooms Many IT Projects.
I really liked it. She had some great points in the face of high rates of IT project failure, and inconsistencies between best practices and poor results. What particularly resonated with me [...]
Read more and share your opinion →
The project manager needs to be able to look into the future. It’s an incredibly valuable skill to look beyond a seemingly small, inconsequential decision, through the chain reaction of events that decision will trigger, to the results.
But the project manager can’t stop there. Whatever the PM sees, it’s imperative he or she be able to effectively communicate that vision to the project team. If they can’t or don’t, there will be nothing to stem the tide of events, and the consequences will come to pass. It’s unfortunate, but only the person with sight is in a position to take action.
Read more and share your opinion →
This is the third instalment of my series on destructive project manager behaviours. So far, we’ve talked about abdicating responsibility (the Sack), and failing to maintain momentum (the Magpie). Both of these behaviours hurt the projects the project manager is meant to control. Sacks, under the guise of “delegation”, give away the one thing they can control, and leave it up to others to carry them. Magpies, using “multitasking” as an excuse, tend to abandon work that that needs their attention when they see something shiny.
Read more and share your opinion →
Welcome to part two of my series on destructive project manager behaviours. Last time we looked at abdication of responsibility. I called a manager who demonstrated this “The Sack“, because they let themselves be carried along by others on their project. I rated the behaviour as “Dangerous”: a Sack basically cuts the head off his or her project, but because others invariably come to the rescue, collateral damage of this behaviour is lessened.
Read more and share your opinion →Yesterday I posted about my findings reviewing IT project failure reports, how they compared around the world, and within the United States. Today, I wanted to put those numbers into perspective.
It’s very easy to look at the massive numbers individual countries are racking up in project waste, and say, “those numbers [...]
Read more and share your opinion →Change control. Project managers everywhere know the term. When a stakeholder requests a change to project work (scope), the impacts of that change need to be formally assessed. If the change will result in more time or money, the project manager needs to inform all stakeholders of the [...]
Read more and share your opinion →
I'm Geoff Crane. After 22 years in the trenches of a lot of tough projects, I decided to change direction a little bit and focus on sparking ideas in the vibrant field of project management.
If you're a project manager, or even if you're one voice in the project choir, you are in a position to be truly remarkable. Without exaggerating, you have within you the capacity to change the world, just because of who and where you are!
How do you access that part of yourself? Please get my free project leadership advice and free ebook "Nine Destructive Behaviours" and join my rapidly growing community!
